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Titles > Fiction >
An English Gentleman
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An
English Gentleman
by Sky Gilbert
Novel
ISBN:
978-1-896951-83-6
240 pages
Trade Paper
5.125" x 7.625"
$21.95
262 pages
BISAC Codes
FIC019000
Fiction/Literary
FIC011000
Fiction/Gay
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An
English Gentleman
by Sky Gilbert
ReLit Award for Novel 2005, winner
Click
to listen to Sky Gilbert discuss An English Gentleman (wave, 29.8mb)
"We
hope our sons will die like English gentlemen."
— J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Manny Masters is a failed graduate student of English Literature.
He is bequeathed by his mentor, Leslie Sexton, a collection of letters
stolen from the home of Nicholas Llewelyn Davies, the only surviving
adopted son of J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. The letters are
what survives of a correspondence that included up to 2,000 exchanges
between adoptive father and son, Michael Llewelyn Davies. In Manny's
hands, these letters become academic fodder — the basis for
a dissertation that examines the presumed romantic relationship
between Barrie and his charge.
Set against the backdrop of New York City after the worst of the
AIDS crisis has passed, the novel explores the relationship between
the suppression of sexual desire and the development of a kind of
death wish for the beloved.
About Sky Gilbert.
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Reviews:
"Gilbert...has woven a post-colonial tale as fine as table
linen, using faux antique letters to reveal his interpretation
of the past, and backing them up with apparently authentic historical
footnotes.
"Gilbert had come up with a story that makes biographical
facts fly, sweeping the reader along....[his] command of tone
is masterful throughout.
"As gay literature, An English Gentleman reaches out to a
wider audience, allowing the outsider in for tea and empathy with
a celibate homosexual man, quaint beyond belief."
— Montreal Gazette, August 21 2004
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"Though
at times emotionally disturbing, An English Gentleman is a fascinating,
vivid book that leaves its reader thinking.”
— National Post
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"Of Gilbert's four novels, this is decidely the most ambitious.
His extensive research is lightly worn; the letters between Michael
Llewlyn and James Barrie have the ring of authenticity, both in
their distictive voices and the deeply subverted emotions they
describe."
— Xtra! magazine, April 15, 2004
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This
year marks the centenary of the publication of J.M. Barrie's Peter
Pan. None of the planned commemorations of this event are
likely to be as interesting as An English Gentleman, Sky
Gilbert's fourth novel and easily his most accomplished fiction
to date.
— Ken Hunt, Quill & Quire, April 2004
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